Process of drying and preparing fertilizing materials



w F. J. NASH PROCESS 0F DRYING AND PREPARING AFER'J.II.IZING MATERIALS.

Original Filed April 26. 1916 fffffff 6' 'lf' n @WMM/ww fia/1f .f4/4f. fx/T .//x/A ff Pawnee May-22.1923.

FREDERIC J. Nasa, or'nn'ooxLYN, NEW Yoan.-

raocnss or ,Darme AND PBEPABING FEBTILIZING :l

Application led April 26, 1916, Serial No. 93,772. Renewed ctober 27, 1922. Seria! No. 597,405.

To all 'whom it mayV concern:

Be it lmown that I, FREDERIC J. NASH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Drying and Preparing Fertilizing Materials, of which the following. is a s ecification accompanied by drawings.

his invention relates to a process of drying, more particularly for drying peat, or peat and ocean vegetation, although the process can be used for drying any materials for which it may be suitable. In my Patent No. 1,228,587, granted June 5, 1917 on an application, Ser. No.n 80,097, filed February 24, 1916, I have described` a method of making a fertilizer from peat and ocean vegetation, and vmy improved drying rocess is especially designed to be-` used in t e manufacture -of that fertilizer. Peat when taken out of the 'eat deposits is cold, sour and antiseptic. It as no value in that condition as a fertilizer. Many months or perhaps a year isordinarily reuired to dryand ripenpeat and make it t as a fertilizer for the soil, vby the "usual weathering or an' drying process, which consists of stacking the peat with horse manure outdoors, and lettipg the stackdry and ripen under atmosphericconditions.

Peat is so extremely'retentive of water that it cannot be made to entirely give-up its water' by pressure.

My improved process for drying peat will reduce the drying and ripening process to a matter of hours, instead of'V months or a -year, and in this way the peat maybe made immediately available for vuse asan ingre- 49 dient of my improved fertilizer, as described in said copending application and for other uses.

The preferred form of apparatus for carrying out the process is shown in the accompanying drawings, inA which,v j

Fig.v 1 is a side elevation, partly in verticl section, showing vthe drying apparatus, an l c Fi 2 is a diagrammatic plan'view show- 50 ing the arrangement of the heating ipes. Referring to the drawings, a suitable house or shed is provided, .having the roof A, the

latticed or slatted sides bottom of any suitable of a trough C, having an outlet pipe D to and ends B, and a the drying house Athe stack, preferablyinternally, by suitable -These pipes E are connected in .any suitable "The air circulation forv 'zontal air circulation pipes', without the ne- -this way the extra expense blowing apparatus is saved.

centage of-pot-ash 'trougl1`C.` -If desired, pailsJ may behung vover the ends of the pipes to collect the The air circulation material in the form.

, carry oli' and collect the drainage and condensation products. A

The material to be dried is stacked within and heat is supplied to means, as for instance, the heating pipes E, which preferably extend vertically through the stack and project through the roof A.

manner to a heater F for supplying heat to the stack.

If vpeat alone is to be dried,.the stack is built up vas shown in Figure 1 in layers G, and in the course of form' the stack, provision isqmade for lateral a1r circulation, as by means, of the perforated air circulation pipes H, which are adaptedV to belaid sub-l stantially horizontally in rows in each layer of peat. These horizontal pipes are open at the ends, in order to permit free circulation ofv air therethrough for the purpose of has.

Atening theY evaporation of the moisture in the vfirst 'stages as it. is driven olf Aby the heat.

drying thus passes through the center of the stack. As the drying house will be located outdoors, preferably near the peat bed, there will be'a strong natural circulation of air through the horicessityof creating an articial vdraft. and in of auxiliary The air .circulation pipes are preferably perforated, as shown, in order to permit lcontact of the -air with the material itself and also in order to collect some moisture throughout the stack and permit the liquid to run out the ends of the pipes.` The col- Vlecting and saving of this liquid is of great importance when the stack consists of altelflnate layers of peat and' sea-vegetation, be- ,l

cause the liquid will contain a materialV pergiven up by the sea vegetation, thieremainder being absorbed/'by the peat as it dries, 'or collecting inthe bottoinliquid. The ,liqud may be suitably evaporated in order'l to retain the potash for use.

pipes are preferably 1051- provided with-,removable caps K which mayV be applied as required when it is desired to shut oil' the air draft fromsome or all of the pipes. The roof A is preferably provided with a. metalic lining L which isl provided nc with depending lips Of, having inwardly turned troughs or tters O at the lower end of each lip, an these gutters are connected b pipes or leaders P to the bottom trough so that the li uid condensing on the inside of the roof will run into the gutters and thence be conducted to the bottom trough C and collected.

The upright heating pipes E should be arranged at intervals sufiiciently close together, as shown in Figure 2, to cause the heat to permeate substantially all parts of the stack and thoroughly dry out all of the material. The slatted sides and ends of the drying house are to afford additional circulation of air and a suitable door or doors should also be provided for filling and removing purposes.

In carrying out the preferred process in the case of peat, the stack is heated to a sufficient degree to cause it to' sweat, but the heatshould not be high enough to burn the material being dried. The air is allowed'to circulate through the horizontal pipes, and this first stage is completed when substantially one-half of the water or liquid in the material is eliminated. Then the air circulation through the horizontal pipes is shut off by putting the caps on the pipes, and the process is continued until the material is dried to a suiicient degree. In the second stage, by shutting off the air circulation, the sweating of the peat causes it to release its ingredients valuable as fertilizers and be- -come fit for use. It also renders the ingredients available which decompose the minerals in the soil. The caps may be taken ofi' and put on at will, according to the condition of the stack. Substantially the same process is carried out when the stack consists of alternate layers of ocean vegetation and peat. The process of making the fertilizer is completed when the stack is sufiiciently dried. The manufactured product made from ocean vegetation .and peat will then contain potash, nitrogen, phosphoric I acid and lthe two humoi, that is, the humus of peat and the humus of ocean vegetation and other organic substances.

The seaweed with its cellular construction melts at once into the ground. The fibrous peat gives way gradually. It cannot be washed out of soil nor can it be burned out by the tropic sun.F These humoi as well as other organic substances containing great stores of carbonic acid will release phosphoric-,acid and potash from any minerals in the soil which contain them, whenever or wherever the humoi may be applied to them. The dried peat may also be used for fuel, as for instance, to furnish power for producing the heat re uired and for conveying machinery for andling the peat or materials to be dried. The peat, sea vegetation, or other organic material to be dried may, if

desired, be cut up or otherwise reduced to small sized pieces, before being placed in the drying house, or else the material may be granulated or divided after having been dried. In order to increase the content of potash in the inaloproduct, under some circumstances, any suitable material, preferably in ground condition, containing potash, may be added to the stack.

I claim and desire to obtain by Letters Patent the following: g

1. The process of drying peat, which consists in forming the peat into a stack of suit able shape, applying heat internally to the stack, while allowing air to circulate through the body of the stack, then shutting oii' the said air circulation, and continuing to apply heat to the stack until the drying is conipleted.

2. The process of making a fertilizer, which consists in forming a stack of suitable 4shape composed of layers of peat and organic material containing potash, applying heat internally to the stack, while allowing air to circulate through the body of the stack, then shutting off the air circulation, and continuing to apply heat to the stack until the peat is decomposedr and the process of making the fertilizer is completed.

3. The process of drying organic matter, which consists in separating or dividing the material to be dried into relatively small sized pieces, forming a stack of suitable shape of said pieces, applying heat internally to the stack, while allowing air` to circulate through the body of the stack, then shutting off the air circulation, and continuing to apply heat to the stack until the stack is dried and the process of making the. fertilizer is completed.

4. The process of' making a fertilizer of peat and organic material containing potash which consists in separating or dividing the material to be treated into relatively small sized pieces. forming a stack of suitable shape of said piece-s, adding potash containing material to said stack, applying heat internally to the stack, while allowing air to circulate through the body of the stack, then shutting off the air circulation, and continuing to apply heat to the stack until the stack is dried and the rocess of making the fertilizer is completed).

5. The process of making a fertilizer composed of peat and organic material of the nature of sea-vegetation containing potash, which consists in forming a stack of alternate layers of peat and organic matter, applying heat internally to the stack, while allowing air to circulate through the stack, draining off water from the interior of the stack while the airis being allowed to circulate in the interior thereof, then shutting 0E the air circulation and continuing to apply heat until the stack is dried and the process of making the fertilizer completed.

6. The proce of making a fertilizer composed of peat and organic material of the nature of sea-Vegetation containing potash which con-sists in forming a stack of alternate layers of peat and organic matter, applying heat internally to the stack at a plurality of points, while allowing air t0 circulate through the stack, draining off water from the interior of the stack at a plurality of points, while the air is being allowed to circulate in the interior thereof, then shutting o the air circulation and continuing to apply heat until the stack is dried and the process of making the fertilizer completed. 4'

.7. The process of making a fertilizer which consists in forming a stack of suitable shape, composed of layers of peat and organic material of the nature of sea-vegetation containing potash, applying heat yinternally to the stack, while allowing airto circulate through the body of the stack until the stack is dried and the process of making the fertilizer is completed.

8. The process of making a fertilizer composed of peat and organic material of the nature of sea-vegetation containing potash,

which consists in forming a stack of alternate layers of peat and organic matter, applying heat internally to the' stack while allowing air to circulate through the stack,

draining oil' water from the interior of the stack while the air is being allowed to circulate in the interior thereof, and continuing to apply heat until .the stack is dried and tllie process of making the fertilizer comp ete 9. The process of making a fertilizer composed of peat and organic material of the nature of seat-vegetation containing potash, which consists in dividing the material to be treated into relatively small sized pieces, forming a stack of suitable shape of said pieces, adding potash containing material to said stack, allowing air to circulate through the body of the stack and applying heat internally to the stack until the stack is dried and the process of making the fertilizer is completed.

10. The process of making a fertilizer which consists in forming a stack of suitable shape, composed of layers of peat and organic material containing potash, applying heat internally to the stack, while a airto circulate through the body of the ing witnesses.

FREDERIC J. NASH. Witnesses:

A. C. PARHAM, M. M. RmMANN.

lowing' stack until the stack is dried and the process 

